The terms outsider and folk art often are applied, almost by default, to self-taught or naé?ve art makers who have had little or no art-world contact, their repertoires only discovered and collected after they have passed away. However, due to the growing popularity of such art, the distinctions between the two may need additional qualifying as galleries and promoters bring their work not only to marketability but to critical appreciation as valid artforms with even additional subcategories.

The Outsider Folk Art Gallery, located on the fifth floor of the GoggleWorks Center for the Arts, attempts to address a facet or two of this scenario in an exhibit titled "Animals in Art: TNT (Traditional and Non-Traditional)." For this huge display of nearly 100 pieces of varying size, numerous depictions of the animal kingdom are utilized as common denominators to discern certain critical differences amid the folk-art side of the discussion.

The theme of the exhibit implies that some artists fabricate their work by direct traditional means of painting, drawing and carving while others assemble nontraditional curiosities out of found objects, text and narrative. The prior leans toward the traditional whereas the latter is more akin to the European movement of Art Brut, albeit unfamiliar with that faction's history and purpose.

This would also propose that certain techniques do not generate in a vacuum but draw inspiration from other sources. Further distinctions would pertain to what division of society the artist is from, since a few are unable to pursue a so-called normal job and work mostly in seclusion, making art intuitively from whatever is on hand.

Examples are generously infused throughout the show, such as the carefully carved and painted "Fox" by Minnie and Garland Adkins and an obsessively painted "Adam and Eve" storyboard as narrated by Hugo Sperger in Bosch-like comic-book detail. And although these and others do not specifically designate which is which, it is plainly obvious what is traditional and what is not.

Particularly impressive are two pedestal sculptures by Leo Sewell titled "Bison" and "Scottie." Meticulously composed with hundreds of small but shiny bits of memorabilia such as cut-up license plates, belt buckles, protractors, bezels, rifle shells and much more, the pieces assume a stance of discarded culture embodied in the forms of a proud pup and slowly dying species. Intentional or otherwise, the works are compelling for not only their craft, but for their sensitivity and subject matter.

The show runs through Aug. 31 and was organized by gallery owner George Viener and director Emily Christensen. As they like to include everything but the kitchen sink, one may also see works by Purvis Young, Jim Bloom and others technically not associated with the exhibit.

The remainder of the presentation is dedicated to the gallery's acquisitions of collectibles by unknown craftsmen. Mechanized carousels, doll and bird houses, decorative fixtures and a beaten, old-fashioned cabinet filled with antique curios populate the show, all related to the topic of animals.

Taken as a whole, the show tends to meld the two roles together more than differentiate them, analyzing what is meant to be simple in order to bring the idea of folk art into a more contemporary milieu.